The aim of this study was to study the scientific vision of the Earth by children, aged 5 to 6 and 8 to 9 years old, and different question modes, open-ended and forced-choice questions elicited different responses in terms of scientific or inconsistent/unscientific concepts of Earth. One hundred and twenty-eight children were invited to draw the Earth and answer questions about the Earth. Results indicate that children aged 5 to 6 years gave more inconsistent/unscientific and less scientific responses, while children aged 8 to 9 years gave more scientific responses and fewer inconsistent/unscientific responses. However, the different question modes did not elicit different responses, as children found the questions confusing.IntruductionWhen asked about the shape of the Earth, children might say that the Earth is flat and that people could fall. Indeed, many aspects of the scientific view of the Earth contradict everyday observations (e.g., it is spherical) and are counterintuitive (e.g., people can live in Singapore without falling). Studies of children's conceptions of the Earth may reveal some key issues in conceptual development, such as the origins of scientific knowledge and the structure and content of emerging concepts (Nobes, Martin, & Panagiotaki, 2005). Vosniadou and Brewer (1992) studied children's perception of the Earth. conceptual knowledge about the Earth by asking children of different ages to draw a picture of the Earth and answer questions about the Earth. It indicates that many children do not have a coherent scientific view of the Earth (for example, it is spherical) and that they believe that the Earth is a flat or hollow sphere with people living inside on a surface flat. Vosniadou and Brewer claimed that this young child...... middle of paper ......Research investigation. Retrieved January 2, 2010, from Colorado State University website: http://writing. colostate.edu/guides/research/survey/com4a2a1.cfm.Nobes, G., Martin, AE, & Panagiotaki, G. (2003). The development of scientific knowledge on the Earth. British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 23, 47-64. doi:10.1348/026151004x20649. Panagiotaki, G., Nobes, G. and Banerjee, R. (2006). Children's representations of the earth: a methodological comparison. British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 24, 353-372. doi: 10.1348/026151005X39116Reja, U., Manfreda, KL, Hlebec, V. and Vehovar, V. (2003). Open or closed questions in web questionnaires. Developments in Applied Statistics, 19, 159-177. Vosniadou, S. and Brewer, W. F. (1992). Mental models of the earth: A study of conceptual change in childhood. Cognitive Psychology 24, 535-585.